Product Description

Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
'In case you're wondering whether A Thousand Splendid Suns is as good as The Kite Runner, here's the answer: No. It's better' Washington Post 'Only the hardest of hearts could fail to be as moved' Glamour 'A masterful narrative He is a storyteller of dizzying power' Evening Standard 'Hosseini has that rare thing, a Dickensian knack for storytelling' Daily Telegraph

Synopsis
Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.

About the Author
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and moved to the United States in 1980. His first novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, published in thirty-four countries. In 2006 he was named a US goodwill envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency. He lives in northern California.

Customer Reviews

A must Read
Read this book and you will not be sorry!

I have read both Hosseini's books and I will not pick a favourite.

They are equally VERY good.
Type of books you cant stop reading and will cherish in your bookshelf...

Both books relate to us what is to be a human!

Flaud, sacrifices and mistakes we all make and have to live with.

I cant wait for his 3rd book.

compelling but miserable
I found this book quite compelling but profoundly miserable. If you are looking for grit and realism I would recommend it, it gives a good insight into awful living conditions in Afghanistan through years of turmoil. The characters are well developed. However, I was thoroughly depressed by reading this book - I guess because it was realistic. Maybe I'm just too shallow to do a book like this justice but this was not any form of escapism. Harrowing is a better description.

brilliant
This is one of the best books I have ever read. The story of two women brought together in the most awful, despicable circumstances which are totally out of their control. The husband Rasheed is probably one of the most hateful, violent characters I have ever come across and Hosseini's writing is so powerful that you believe these people really exist and I hated Rasheed with a passsion. This book had my heart thumping at a failed escape and crying at one of the most poignant chapters set in the Ghaza Stadium. Like the Kite Runner this book does end with a sense of hope but again, getting to that end still fills you with sadness. This is one book I will remember for along time.